1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of computer communications and, more specifically, to a method of ensuring that attachments to electronic mail messages are affixed to the messages prior to submission.
2. Related Art
Electronic mail, or "email," is a universal tool of computer users. It provides rapid and easy means of communication for users of all levels of skill and experience, and is heavily relied upon as a means for information transfer between individuals, businesses, and other organizations.
An electronic mail message generally consists of three sections: a header (to include addressee(s), title, classification, return address, priority, etc.), a body, and attachments (if any). Messages may contain purely textual material or may incorporate audiovisual matter as well, and are therefore frequently used as a conduit for the transportation of documents, files, programs, other electronic mail messages, etc. Such items are typically transported as attachments and must be manually selected and attached by the sending user.
Most computer users have become proficient and frequent senders of electronic mail. As a result, the volume of electronic mail transmitted has grown so large that it is no longer unusual to receive an electronic mail message that is missing a referenced attachment. The manner in which email is usually generated makes it easy to forget an attachment. Specifically, a user generally creates the header of a message (e.g., addressee(s) and title) and then composes the body. The body may be lengthy and/or the user may be interrupted during his or her message composition, thereby causing delay in finishing the message. Due to the user's focus on expressing his or her immediate thoughts within the message body, once it is completed, he or she is naturally eager to send it on its way and turn his or her attention to a new task. Thus, an attachment that was referenced in the body may easily be forgotten. Indeed, it is a rare user who has never forgotten to include an attachment before sending an email message, or who has never received a message that was missing an intended attachment.
Not only does such an oversight require the sender to create another message and send it with the proper attachment, but the sender is often embarrassed by his or her failure to affix the attachment in the original transmission. Thus, there is needed an apparatus and method for ensuring that electronic mail attachments are appended to messages before they are transmitted from the sender's electronic mail system.